TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-35985
TITLE=NEWSMAKER: GEORGE TENET
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: ONLY TWO-DAYS AFTER ANTHONY LAKE WITHDREW HIS NOMINATION
TO BE C-I-A DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS NOMINATED GEORGE
TENET TO THE TOP INTELLIGENCE POST. MR. TENET HAS BEEN THE ACTING
C-I-A CHIEF SINCE DECEMBER, AND AS A VETERAN CONGRESSIONAL STAFF
AIDE, HE COULD BE SPARED THE BRUISING CONFIRMATION BATTLE THAT
CONFRONTED MR. ANTHONY LAKE. V-O-A'S DAVID GOLLUST HAS
DETAILS.
TEXT: MR. TENET IS A FORMER SENATE STAFF MEMBER WITH
CONNECTIONS AMONG BOTH REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS. AND
THERE ARE ALREADY PREDICTIONS FROM SENATORS THAT MR. TENET CAN
EXPECT AN EASIER TIME IN HIS CONFIRMATION HEARINGS THAN ANTHONY
LAKE.
MR. TENET SERVED AS STAFF DIRECTOR OF THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE -- WHICH MUST CONFIRM HIS NOMINATION -- IN THE LATE
1980'S. AND THE REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, RICHARD SHELBY --
WHO DELAYED AND HELPED DERAIL MR. LAKE'S CONFIRMATION -- SAYS MR.
TENET IS CAPABLE, AND RESPECTED IN CONGRESS.
MR. TENET MOVED ON FROM THE SENATE POST TO THE CLINTON WHITE
HOUSE, WHERE HE SERVED AS A SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
AND DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE PROGRAMS FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY
COUNCIL.
ANNOUNCING THE NOMINATION AT A WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY BEFORE
LEAVING FOR THE HELSINKI SUMMIT, PRESIDENT CLINTON STRESSED MR.
TENET'S BACKGROUND IN BOTH CONGRESS AND THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY, AND PREDICTED SPEEDY CONFIRMATION.
MR. TENET, IN TURN, SAID HE IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING THE
PRESIDENT AND HIS ADMINISTRATION WITH BALANCED INTELLIGENCE
ANALYSIS -- UNTAINTED BY POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS:
///TENET ACT///
THROUGH MY CARRER MR. PRESIDENT, I HAVE BELIEVED THAT
YOU AND THE VICE PRESIDENT MUST BE PROVIDED WITH
COMPLETE AND OBJECTIVE INTELLIGENCE. I HAVE ALWAYS
BELIEVED THERE IS NO ROOM FOR PARTISANSHIP IN THE
CONDUCT OF OUR INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY. WE MUST ALWAYS BE
STRAIGHT AND TELL YOU THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM.
///END ACT///
ON A PERSONAL NOTE, MR. TENET TOLD THE PRESIDENT HE REGRETTED
THAT HIS FATHER -- AN IMMIGRANT TO THE UNITED STATES FROM GREECE
50 YEARS AGO -- DID NOT LIVE TO SEE HIS SON NOMINATED TO THE
NATION'S TOP INTELLIGENCE POST.
MR. TENET, WHO IS 44-YEARS-OLD, BECAME THE ACTING C-I-A DIRECTOR
LAST DECEMBER WHEN THE THEN-C-I-A CHIEF -- JOHN DEUTCH --
ANNOUNCED HE WOULD NOT BE STAYING ON FOR THE SECOND CLINTON TERM.
AS THE LAKE CONFIRMATION BATTLE UNFOLDED OVER THE LAST THREE
MONTHS, MR. TENET HAS QUITELY GONE ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF RUNNING
THE NATION'S 30 BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS.
THE DIRECTOR IS IN OVERALL CHARGE OF NOT ONLY THE C-I-A ITSELF
BUT SEVERAL OTHER INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE
CODE-BREAKING NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY AND THE NATIONAL
RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE, WHICH RUNS THE U-S SPY SATELLITE NETWORK.
(SIGNED)
NEB/DAG/PT
19-Mar-97 6:08 PM EST (2308 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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